


Bold Deceiver

by marginalia



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, bad at feelings, gratuitous menswear, krejjh ships it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 06:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16213016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marginalia/pseuds/marginalia
Summary: It's about time Violet goes out on a job, and anything can happen when you're operating under an alias.





	Bold Deceiver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alliterate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliterate/gifts).



It was Krejjh’s fault, to be honest, and in retrospect, the key question was why it had taken so long for them to pull something like this. Violet’s other questions included how Krejjh had acquired a contact on Malvolio in the first place, how anyone had allowed the one non-human on board to select aliases for Violet and Arkady, and why they had chosen names from a movie two hundred years older than anyone on the ship.

“I was inspired,” Krejjh said, spinning the pilot’s chair in little half circles that made Violet dizzy. “And with great power comes great responsibility.”

“But Nick and Nora?” asked Arkady, with an eyeroll that was practically audible.

“Violet just didn’t seem like a Nicole to me.” Krejjh said firmly, then immediately undercut themselves with a laughing, “Or, wait. Did I get that backwards? Again?” Violet giggled.

Arkady let that go. “Are we supposed to be siblings?”

“Nope.” Krejjh popped the P with gusto.

“Cousins? Neighbors?”

Violet sighed. “Why would neighbors be travelling together to the Orsino system?”

“To meet a friend of Krejjh’s interested in distributing 17 pallets of gel pens, obviously.”

“Honestly, the gel pens are the biggest mystery for me. We can do this. You’ll just have to pretend to like me,” Violet said, with more bite than she’d intended. “You’ve managed it before.”

Arkady prickled. “And why do you get to be Nick?”

“Because,” Violet said with a tip of her invisible hat, “I am a gentleman.”

“Besides,” Krejjh said, with poorly-concealed glee, “We’ve already sent the details. The aliases and your costumes will be in a drop near the landing site.”

“I hope you remembered my number one rule,” Arkaday said.

“‘I refuse to wear anything I can’t run in.’ Of course!”

::

The meet was at a gala on a resort planet. Captain Tripathi went over the brief with Arkady and Violet, swiping through images on the Beluga. “Here’s the location of the drop. I don’t anticipate any trouble there. This is the vehicle. It'll be just a click away, here. And here’s your contact; they’ll wearing this, more or less.”

“Hopefully not less, unless you really do intend to become pornographers,” Violet said. 

Arkady snorted. “The things rich people do for fun, I swear.”

“This should be a breeze for you, Arkady,” Captain Tripathi said. “Brush up on all those theater kid skills! Get into character!”

“Not to question you, Captain, but all this for gel pens?”

“To be fair, it is a lot of gel pens. But it’s more about developing the contact. They have useful Dwarnian connections, and there’s a lot of money in the Orsino system. It’ll be a big step for us if we can pull off more visible jobs, socializing and whatnot. A growth opportunity!”

“And,” Violet said. “It just might be fun. If I’m going to be jetting around the universe in a tin can full of smugglers, I probably should start learning how to smuggle.”

::

They made landfall on time, and Arkady and Tripathi slipped out to retrieve the items from the drop: a cargo case containing two garment bags, two shoe boxes, and a leather document envelope. 

“Not bad,” Arkady admitted, looking at the IDs. She handed Violet her costume. “Here goes nothing.”

Violet emerged from her quarters first, dapper in her tux, hair parted and slicked back neatly. She bit her lip, and turned slowly for crew approval.

“I have an excellent eye, if I do say so myself,” Krejjh said, beaming.

Arkady took a bit longer, finally appearing in a loose sheath of an embroidered dress, knee-length, paired with tall, light boots. “This get up hides more weapons than one might expect,” she said begrudgingly.

“You look…” Violet blinked. “Wow.” 

“Why thank you, Science Officer Liu.” Arkady and Krejjh said together.

“We should take their picture,” Brian said.

“We’re not going to prom,” Violet said.

“Praaaahm. Praaahm. Prom.” Krejjh repeated.

Brian laughed. “Nevermind, dude. We’ll go over that later.”

Tripathi pushed them out the door. “Break a leg!” 

::

“I’m driving,” Violet said. “I insist.” Arkady tossed her the keys without argument, but stared in confusion when Violet darted to open the door for her. “Ladies first,” Violet said, with a small, precise bow.

“I’m no--” Arkady began, but Violet cut her off. “Nora, please.”

“Oh.” Arkady settled into the seat. “Thank you, Nick.”

Violet shut the door, circled the transport, and tried to calm her nerves. She could do this. She wasn’t Violet or the other Violet or any other shrinking Violet. She was Nick. She had power. She was going to go into this party with this strong, gorgeous woman on her arm and she was going to fit in, goddamnit.

They said little on the drive, both a little uncomfortable, even Arkady unusually nervous. They arrived at the party, handed off the keys to the valet, and entered. They managed to slip by the butler without a formal introduction to the room, and if Arkady was gripping Violet’s arm a little tighter than necessary, neither of them was going to say anything about it.

They each accepted a drink from a passing waiter and looked casually around the room for their contact. It was a beautiful home: grand staircases, high ceilings, romantic lighting. People were gathered in small clusters chatting, or dancing, or, as the evening wore on, pulling each other into darker corners.

“There’s a lot of money to be made in a war,” Arkady muttered to Violet’s unspoken question, unceremoniously drained her glass, and set it on a nearby tray. 

Violet set her unfinished drink there as well, and strangely emboldened, put out her hand to Arkady. “Would the lady do me the favor of a dance?” Off of Arkady’s glare she added lightly: “The better to scan the room, my dear.”

“Only if I can lead.”

“Probably for the best. I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Violet admitted. Arkady took her in her arms, and if either of their hearts raced a little faster, surely it could be blamed on the strength of the drinks or on the rush of the job or on anything other than the warmth of two bodies finally closer together.

“Anything yet?” Arkady murmured.

“No,” Violet said, trying to focus both on the steps and on scanning every corner of the room, when she caught sight of a familiar figure. “Oh no,” she breathed. “Sorry, sorry.” She reached up, her fingers in the soft hair at the nape of Arkady’s neck, and pulled her down for a kiss. 

Arkady resisted, but only briefly, and then, unsure if it was because it was what Nora would do or because she was tired of waiting, she gave herself over. Violet broke the kiss, after a moment or an eternity, took Arkady’s hand, and pulled her into a nook recently abandoned by a couple dressed entirely in scarlet.

“What. Was that.” Arkady said, though even she was unclear on if she was asking Violet or herself.

“If I’m supposed to be dead, it would be very inconvenient for me to be spotted dancing with a beautiful woman in the Orsino system, wouldn’t it?”

Arkady filed away the adjective for later. “And that was the only thing you could think of?” 

“It’s not just that it was the only thing I could think of in the moment! It’s that it’s the only thing I could think of even when I only knew you as a voice!” The admission took something out of Violet, who sank down into an overstuffed chair.

“That’s. That’s a long time.” Arkady softened.

“I know.”

They both waited in silence, watching the dancers, until Arkady came to a decision. “Though she be but little, she is fierce!” she said, pulling Violet to her feet. “Come on, Nick. We’re not getting paid to canoodle.” She squeezed Violet’s hand. “Show me which one’s your ghost. Somehow I find myself in a bit of a hurry to find our contact and get back to the ship. Or at least, out of here.”


End file.
